A Popular History of Rome

Pictures from A Popular History of Rome by D. Rose, Edited by H. W. Dulcken, Ph.D., 1886, published by Ward, Lock and Co., London and New York. The contributions of Henry William Dulcken (1832-1894) are out of copyright; it seems likely that the text and pictures are also, but since the pictures are generally unsigned it is impossible to be certain..

Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable says, in the entry for Yoke, “To pass under the yoke. To suffer the disgrace of a vanquished army. The Romans made a yoke of three spears—two upright and one resting on them. When an army was vanquished [i.e. beaten], the soldiers had to lay down their arms [i.e. weapons] and pass under this archway of spears.” [more...]

Slave labour! The men working in this illustration are scantily clad: they wear shorts or loin-cloths, and have bare backs and bare feet. An ox-driver leans with his stick against two oxen; he has a hat and an animul-fur skirt or loin-cloth and a purse. He is barefoot. In the background, a pair of more richly-dressed man gaze on as a craftsman wearing [...] [more...]

In the foreground, a Roman gladiator fights with a lion; he is naked from head to foot except for what look like metal underpants and a ring around his left leg, and he brandishes a short sword or dagger. Two other pairs of gladiators fight similar big cats in the background, and in the distance a crowd watches. One of the gladiators in the background [...] [more...]

A scene in the Roman Colosseum, the great theatre where the gladiators fought. But in this case a group of Christians, including men, women and children, has been made available to lions, tigers and bears, [...] [more...]